Blog

It seems a little strange to think about antifouling already, but it is a lot better to apply Coppercoat while the boat is upside down than attempting to do it crawling underneath and being dripped on. So, this stage is about Coppercoating! Coppercoat is interesting stuff. All boats kept in the water need antifouling and… Continue reading Antifouling Already?

After all the sanding, I need a couple of coats of resin to provide a good base for paint and Coppercoat. Not a lot to look at, but I have added a couple of pictures below showing the nice glossy finish. Which of course I then sand a little to give the next layers something… Continue reading Top layer of Resin

It is quite a while since I updated my progress. I have made progress, although there have been some distractions. I decided that before putting my Shrimper back in the water, I should treat the spars to a lick of varnish (or really Cetol Filter 7 plus). And then with Lagom waiting for me in… Continue reading Distractions, more sanding and a length of Fishing Line

I have been working, honest. But quite a lot of work is required to show visible progress. This stage is all about providing a surface ready for painting. The fibreglass cloth needs to have a good layer of resin to protect it, and surface needs to be fair and smooth. The first step was to… Continue reading Fairing

One of the challenges of building a boat for the first time is that it takes time to find the best ways of working. There is only so much you can learn from books and the internet. Having tried various ways of hanging a length of cloth from the top, I discover what is, for… Continue reading One side done. On to the other

It is quite a while since I posted. All the pictures up to the gas bottle were taken in October. Since then life just got in the way – Putting my boat away for the winter, Holiday in Italy, Holiday in Holland, Christmas, New Year. It is tough being retired! Let’s get on with the… Continue reading Sheathing; and a Winter Break

Here, I am finishing off the filling and fairing to provide a smooth finish for the layers of fibreglass. All done! And it seemed a good time to fine sand the transom. When finished, the fibreglass will lap over the edge onto the transom, but the transom will have a clear finish. Below, the transom… Continue reading Preparing for sheathing

With the capping of the skeg and stem in place, the next step was to plane the skeg capping and add an epoxy cove between the keel/deadwood and the hull. The stem capping needed to be plained to match the hull and then nicely rounded off. Which left me with a hull (nearly) ready for… Continue reading Fairing and Preparing

The skeg is made up of layers of marine ply with outer layers of iroko. The next step is to cap over the end with iroko pieces to provide a strong outer surface. Each piece of Iroko is planed to fit and then glued in place. I decided that, rather than attempt a perfect fit… Continue reading Capping the Skeg

As you will see in the photograph below, the stem is made up of a nice solid iroko central core, with the strip planks glued and screwed to either side. The keel curves down from the top (with hull upside down) to join it. In order to provide protection for the soft strip planking, the… Continue reading Progressing the Stem